Vacuum cleaner



July 26, 1966 R. s. WATERS ETAL 3, ,1 7

VACUUM CLEANER Filed Aug. 24. 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIG-2- WITNESSES INVENTORS a M Robert 3. Waters 1% 8 John W. Gilliom flflMJ/L. 3s

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ATTORNEY y 6, 1966 R. s. WATERS ETAL 3,262,147

VACUUM CLEANER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 24. 3.964

United States Patent 3,262,147 VAEUUM CLEANER Robert S. Waters, Lexington, and John W. Gilliom, Mansfield, ()hio, assignors to Westinghouse Electric (Iorporation, Pittsburgh, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Aug. 24, 1964, filer. No. 391,599 7 Claims. (Cl. ll354l) This invention relates to vacuum cleaners in general, and more particularly to mechanism for raising and lowering the front wheels of a vacuum cleaner in order to adjust the nozzle to the proper relationship with respect to a surface being cleaned.

It is well known that vacuum cleaners of the type herein contemplated are generally used for cleaning rugs, carpets and the like, although they are also used for cleaning bare wood floors, linoleum and other such hard surfaces. In connection with cleaning carpets, materials of varying thickness and softness are encountered. Consequently, it has been found desirable to provide the cleaner with a vertically movable nozzle so that when operating on a carpet that is relatively thick and soft Where the wheels sink in to a relatively great degree, the nozzle can be vertically adjusted upward so that in cleaning such a carpet, the mouth of the nozzle will not be too close to the fabric or bear too hard thereon. Contrariwise, when operating upon a thin closely woven carpet or on a bare floor or linoleum, or the like, where the wheels do not sink in to any perceptible degree, the nozble can be adjusted downwardly so that it will be in proper position with respect to the surface being cleaned.

Various devices have been already proposed which with a vacuum cleaner of the described type renders possible the adjustment of the nozzle above the surface to be cleaned. For the most part these devices provide a justment through the handle of the cleaner or through a step-on lever suitably located near the rear of the cleaner housing. Although such devices are convenient to use they are complicated in design, expensive to manufacture and difficult to assemble.

In ordinary household cleaning more than one adjustment is not usually required during a particular cleaning period; therefore, to sacrifice simplicity of design, low cost, and simplicity of assembly for sake of convenience is not warranted, particularly, in view of the competitive nature of the industry which necessitates the selling of vacuum cleaners at a minimum price.

Accordingly, it is the general object of this invention to provide a new and improved mechanism for adjusting the position of a nozzle in a vacuum cleaner.

It is a more particular object of this invention to provide a new and improved simplified and inexpensive nozzle height adjusting mechanism for vacuum cleaners.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved height adjustment mechanism than can easily be attached to a vacuum cleaner without special tools and with a minimum amount of effort.

Briefly, the present invention accomplishes the above cited objects by providing an offset adjusting lever which is insertable through an aperture in the bottom wall of the cleaner housing. The lever is adapted to rotate about a vertical axis and terminates at one end thereof with a horizontal lever arm interposed between a cam surface and the central crank portion of an offset axle which carries the front wheels of the cleaner. As the lever is rotated, the lever arm rides on the cam surface causing the lever and lever arm to move vertically either up or down depending on the direction of rotation of the lever. As the lever arm moves downwardly it imparts movement to the central crank portion, in the same direction, and thence the front wheels. The axle is retained, by a cover plate, in a pair of recesses provided in the bottom of the ice cleaner, the cover plate being fastened to the bottom wall of the cleaner in the operable position. The cover plate is substantially cup-shaped to provide a cavity between it and the bottom of the cleaner to permit the vertical movement of the lever arm and the offset axle.

A spring bias member positioned between the crank portion of the axle and the cover plate serves to maintain the axle in its adjusted position and due to the energy stored therein is effective to move the axle upwardly upon actuation of the lever arm in that direction. In other words, the lever arm moves the axle downwardly against the bias of the spring and the spring acts to move the axle upwardly as the lever arm is moved in that direction by rotating the offset lever.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and features of novelty will be pointed out in particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this spec ification.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view, partly broken away, of a vacuum cleaner incorporating one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial bottom plan view of the vacuum cleaner illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of the nozzle height adjusting mechanism; and

FIG. 4 is a partial top plan view of the vacuum cleaner shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, especially FIGS. 1 and 3, reference character 10 designates a vacuum cleaner carried by front wheels 11 and rear wheels 12, only one of the rear wheels being shown. The cleaner is adapted to pivot about the rear wheels 12, the relative position of which is fixed with respect to the cleaner housing. The front wheels 11 are mounted on an offset axle 13 (FIGS. 2 and 3) and are adapted to be raised or lowered by a height adjusting mechanism generally indicated 14 (FIG. 3). By adjusting the position of the wheels, the height of a nozzle 15 is varied to the desired position with respect to the surface being cleaned. A pair of recesses 16 provided by a plurality of bosses 1'7 on a bottom wall 18 of the cleaner serve to receive portions of the axle adjacent either side of a central crank or offset portion 19.

A substantially cup-shaped cover or retaining plate 21 having a pair of flanges 22, only one shown (FIG. 3), is adapted to be fastened to the bottom wall 18 such that each of the flanges abut the surfaces of adjacent bosses 17 and lie sub-adjacent the portions of the axle disposed in the recesses 16. The flanges cooperate with the bosses to retain the axle and at the same time permit pivoting thereof in the recesses 16 when acted upon by an offset lever to be discussed below.

The adjusting mechanism, best shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, comprises an offset adjusting or control lever 23 one end of which terminates with a horizontal lever arm or cam follower 24 while the other end terminates with an offset vertical actuating arm 26 adapted to receive a control knob 27. To mount the lever 23 the vertical offset portion 26 is inserted through an aperture 28 in the bottom wall 18 (see FIG. 2.). The lever is so constructed that in its installed position (FIG. 1) the lever arm or cam follower 24 lies adjacent the bottom wall 18 and the vertical offset portion is disposed in an arcuate recess 29 (see FIG. 4) in the top of the cleaner. The vertical and horizontal portions of the lever intermediate the lever arm and vertical offset portion lie adjacent corresponding vertical and horizontal portions of the cleaner housing. By moving the control knob 27 in the arcuate recess 29 a corresponding movement in the opposite angular direction is achieved by the lever arm 24. The

lever 23 is free to move a limited distance in the vertical direction and is caused to do so by a radial cam surface 31 which is in direct contact with the lever arm 24. The cam surface 31 may be molded integrally with the bottom wall 18 while the lever arm lies sub-adjacent the cam surface and immediately above and in engagement with the central crank portion 19. It will, therefore, be understood that as the lever arm moves downwardly the crank portion 19 will move in the same direction while pivoting about the longitudinal axis of the recesses 16. The front wheels 11 which are mounted on horizontal offset segments 20 of the axle 13 are simultaneously pivoted with the crank portion 19 thereby effecting a lowering of the front wheels 11 and simultaneous raising of the nozzle 15.

A pair of arcuate shaped bosses 32 which may be formed integrally with the bottom wall 18, cooperate with the rear wall of one of the bosses 17 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) to provide a pair of recesses 33 for receiving a biasing spring 34 having a central U-shaped portion. The spring is retained in the recesses 33 by the .cover plate 21 which abuts the free ends of the bosses 17 and 32 when mounted in place. The spring has a pair of arcuate portions 36 (see FIG. 2) which are formed in the process of bending the legs of the U-shaped portion through an angle of 180 such that the free ends of the spring extend in a direction opposite to and in a plane intersecting the legs of the central U-shaped portion at a slightly acute angle (see FIG. 3). In the operative position the U-shaped portion of the spring abuts the central crank portion 19 while the free ends of the spring simultaneously abut the cover plate 21. It will be understood that the spring serves to bias the crank portion of the axle 13 in an upward direction such that as the crank portion moves toward the cover plate through actuation of the control lever 23 the spring is compressed and becomes effective to retain the axle and the front wheels in the adjusted position. Furthermore, the energy stored in the spring is effectively to move the crank portion 19 upwardly as the horizontal lever arm moves in the same direction through actuation of the control lever in the opposite direction.

To assemble the adjusting mechanism the control lever is first inserted through the aperture 28. With the axle 13 disposed in the recesses 17 and the front wheels 11 adjacent a pair of cavities 38 (see FIG. 2) formed in the underside of the cleaner, the radial portions 36 of the spring 34 are inserted in the recesses 33. The cover plate 21 is placed in contact with the bosses 17 and 32 and secured in place by any suitable means, for example screws.

As viewed in FIG. 4, the control knob 27 having an arrow-shaped pointer 40 formed integrally at the top thereof is disposed in the arcuate recess 29 and is positioned adjacent a scale 39 having indicia thereon. As the knob is moved to various positions the pointer will indicate the relative adjusted position of the nozzle 15 with respect to the surface being cleaned. In other words when the knob is moved to the extreme left as viewed in FIG. 4, the pointer will indicate that the nozzle is at its farthest distance from the surface. Contrariwise, when the knob is moved to the extreme right the pointer indicates that the nozzle is in its closest position with respect to the surface being cleaned. It will be understood that instead of the Hi Lo indicia, the scale 39 could have indicia representing types of carpets or surfaces to be cleaned.

It will be apparent that there has been disclosed a nozzle height adjustment mechanism which comprises a minimum number of parts; is inexpensive to manufacture; and simple to install.

While there has been shown and described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of the invention, modifications thereto will readily occur to those skilled in the art. It is not desired, therefore,

that the invention be limited to the specific arrangements shown and described and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a vacuum cleaner having a nozzle, the improvement for adjusting the nozzle height with respect to a surface being cleaned, said improvement comprising: an offset lever having a horizontal lever arm at one end and adapted to rotate about a vertical axis, a cam fixed with respect to the bottom wall of the cleaner and in operative engagement with said horizontal lever arm, an offset axle having a central crank portion operatively engaging said horizontal lever arm at the side thereof opposite the side engaged by said 0am, means for securing said offset axle to the cleaner housing, and bias means interposed between said central crank portion and said retainin means for maintaining engagement of said lever arm with said cam and said central crank portion with said lever arm.

2. In a vacuum cleaner having a nozzle, the improvement for adjusting the nozzle height, said improvement comprising: an offset lever having a horizontal lever arm at one end and being adapted to rotate about a vertical axis and simultaneously move in a vertical direction, a cam fixed with respect to the bottom wall of the cleaner and operatively engaging said lever 'arm, an offset axle having a central crank portion operatively engaging said lever arm and a first pair of offset wheel-supporting portions, a plurality of bosses defining a pair of recesses for receiving portions of said axle, means for retaining said axle portions in said recesses and cooperating with said bosses to provide a pair of pivot points for said axle, bias means interposed between said retaining means and said central crank portion for maintaining continuous engagement of said lever arm with said cam and said crank portion with said lever arm, said cam being effective to impart vertical displacement to said offset lever simultaneously with horizontal movement of said lever arm and said lever arm being effective to impart vertical displacement to the central crank portion in the same direction, said displacements being opposed by said bias means in one direction, said bias means being effective to move said central crank portion in the opposite direction simultaneously with displacement of said lever arm in that direction.

3. Structure as specified in claim 2, including means cooperating with said retaining means for retaining said bias means in operative position.

4. In a vacuum cleaner having a nozzle, the improvement for adjusting the height of the nozzle relative to a surface being cleaned, said improvement comprising: an offset lever having a horizontal lever arm at one end and an actuating arm at the other end, said lever being free to rotate about a vertical axis and simultaneously move in a substantially vertical direction, an offset axle having a central crank portion operatively engaging said lever arm and having a pair of wheel-supporting offset portions, means including a substantially cup-shaped cover plate for pivotally mounting said axle to the cleaner at points adjacent said central crank portion and lying in a plane other than the plane of said central crank portion and said wheel-carrying offset portions, and means including said lever arm for imparting vertical displacement to said central crank portion and said wheel-supporting offset portions in response to rotation of said actuating arm.

5. Structure as specified in claim 4, including biasing means interposed between said central crank portion and said substantially cup-shaped cover plate for maintaining engagement of said central crank portion with said lever arm and being effective to store energy resulting from displacement of said lever arm in one direction and to impart displacement to said central crank portion in the opposite direction upon movement of said lever arm in the same direction.

6. Structure as specified in claim 5, wherein said means 5 6 for imparting vertical displacement further includes a References Cited by the Examiner cam fixed with respect to the bottom wall of the cleaner and operatively engaging said lever arm at the side op- UNITED STATES PATENTS posite the side engaging said central crank portion. 2 7 01 2 1 33 Snyder 15 354 X 7. Structure as specified in claim 6, including means 5 fixed with respect to the bottom wall and adapted to cooperate with said cover plate for retaining said biasing means in Operative position. ROBERT W. MICHELL, P) zmai y Exammer.

2,730,751 1/1956 Brace 15333 

1. IN A VACUUM CLEANER HAVING A NOZZLE, THE IMPROVEMENT FOR ADJUSTING THE NOZZLE HEIGHT WITH RESPECT TO A SURFACE BEING CLEANED, SAID IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING: AN OFFSET LEVER HAVING A HORIZONTAL LEVER ARM AT ONE END AND ADPATED TO ROTATE ABOUT A VERTICAL AXIS, A CAM FIXED WITH RESPECT TO THE BOTTOM WALL OF THE CLEANER AND IN OPERATIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID HORIZONTAL LEVER ARM, AN OFFSET AXLE HAVING A CENTRAL CRANK PORTION OPERATIVELY ENGAGING SAID HORIZONTAL LEVER ARM AT THE SIDE THEREOF OPPOSITE THE SIDE ENGAGED BY SAID CAM, MEANS FOR SECURING SAID OFFSET AXLE TO THE CLEANER HOUSING, AND BIAS MEANS INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID CENTRAL CRANK PORTION AND SAID RETAINING MEANS FOR MAINTAINING ENGAGEMENT OF SAID LEVER ARM WITH SAID CAM AND SAID CENTRAL CRANK PORTION WITH SAID LEVER ARM. 